Page 22 - NAMAH-Oct-2023

Namah Vol. 31, Issue 3, 15th October 2023

rational man, tormented by pathologies, Self-healing remedies
cannot find medicines that cure his mental
problems using mental techniques alone. To remedy our own ecological discomforts,
When he allows plants and animals to we start connecting with the secret life of
come into his life, he begins to unravel these plants and creatures. We read literature that
problems. The mind sits at the feet of the wise connects to nature. We read mythologies,
old ways, begging to be cured. folktales, and children’s literature. Mythologies
around the world have Nature as characters
One of the pioneers in the field of eco- in their drama. Daphne turns into a laurel
psychology, Theodore Roszak (1), calls the tree in Greek mythology; an eagle fights the
human bond with Nature the “ecological abductor who is stealing the queen Sita in
unconscious”. Just as the collective unconscious the Indian epic, Raamaayanna. We participate
of psychology, we are born with this collective empathically with the people whose lives
angst, as though it is part of our genetic are being uprooted, say, due to new hydro-
material. Even if we were lucky to be nurtured electric power plants or mining projects.
in an eco-friendly society, when we move to We protest the destruction of the habitat
techno-cities, we imbibe it from the field. This of birds and forest creatures, and of forest-
field is created by the thoughts and feelings dwellers such as honey-makers and herbal
of people sharing a common space, which medicine-gatherers. If the hydro-electric
get transmitted to others, without their being power plant solves bigger issues, we think
aware of it. There is denial, guilt, helplessness, of alternative habitats for the displaced
nostalgia, anger, fear. The pathologies show people. If the timber is cut for luxury
up in dreams as something we are chasing items, we voice our indignation, we take
but cannot find. We may see doomsday them up with the authorities, we involve
images of ashes and volcanic fires. Forests environmental scientists to weigh in. Even
burn down and animals run in all directions. if we do not participate in these movements
directly, we fight for their cause in spirit. We
All these scenes are occurring somewhere, become advocates in our circle of influence.
and even if we are unaware of them in The small talks in social gatherings veer
our waking state, they affect the system, around these issues, and we spread the
of which we are a part. We erupt on our awareness. Someone who is tormented by
family members for minor reasons, and ecologically-induced pathologies can then
we cannot explain our actions. Sometimes
we feel incomplete even if we have every
conceivable material need met. We sense a
natural disaster that is occurring far away
and it causes us panic attacks. Our literature
mirrors our state of disconnect. There is
a taste for horror, for gore and blood, for
unnatural pleasures, for wickedness, for
destruction, for causing pain and feeling
no remorse for it.

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